Vrangr
by DarkDramaLady
Summary: Calypso and Caesar, two orphan twins, become Riders about four hundred years after Eragon has started the new order. Calypso has insecurities and Caesar has secrets. Together with their dragons and newfound friends they must avenge their mentors. Follow them on their quest. Rated Teen for safety, please leave honest reviews.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note:** This is not Skaterofthebooks, this is a friend who is using my account to put her story out there. And here is a message from her:

Hi, people! Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I don't own much, just my OCs and the plot, so thanks to those who have, rather unknowingly, given ideas, my beta Skaterofthebooks (**THAT"S ME!**), and Christopher Paolini, of course. Anyway, enough talking - read and review! Thanks!

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Chapter 1 - Calypso

I grin and swing my leg over Silba, my beautiful dragon, whose teal scales shimmer with bright green and blue in the midday sun. My dragon. _My_ dragon, who had hatched against all odds for _me_.

_You're not that unique, Calypso, _Silba snickers, hearing my thoughts.

I jump. I'm still not used to the entire voice-in-my-head thing. _So, Caesar got Obsidian. It doesn't make your choosing me any less remarkable._

_ Still, give him some credit._

Slightly annoyed, I withdraw from Silba's contact and glance at my twin brother, Caesar, on his midnight-blue dragon, Obsidian. He is rechecking the security of his sword on his belt for what seems like the thirtieth time. Obsidian had hatched for Caesar just after Silba hatched for me in the small orphanage we lived in.

I turn my attention to my city, projecting my thoughts: _Farewell, Teirm. And farewell, good sea._ For a second I feel sad, as I recall that I had no other relatives left to see me off since the fire our parents died in. A jokingly mocking voice draws me out of my thoughts.

"If you're done reflecting, dearest Calypso, we should be going."

I whirl around in my seat to see Lanadra, the elf that had brought the dragon eggs that had hatched for us to Teirm, and smile sadly at her. "Sorry, Lanadra-ebrithil. Just saying goodbye."

"Very well. Are you ready to go, Silba?"

_Yes._

"Caesar? Obsidian?

_Yes and yes, _Obsidian answers for both of them.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lanadra grins, grabbing ribbons from a bag to tie back her lengthy blond hair. She gives one to me as well, for my hair is even longer than hers, then nimbly climbs onto her silver dragon, Rimume. Rimume's egg had hatched for her a hundred and thirty-five years ago. The pair had volunteered twenty-five years later for duty as part of the Egg Legion - a group of six Riders who took two eggs each from the Land of Dragons to one of the races of Alagaesia, waited for three months for them to hatch to any thirteen-year-olds from that race, and gave these new Riders and dragons basic training before taking them back again. If the eggs didn't hatch for thirteen-year-olds from the first race within the three month period, the Egg Legionnaires would move on to the next race. After going through all of the races once, they would try a round of the next year's worth of thirteen-year-olds. Humans were the third race in the fifth year for Silba and Obsidian, a fairly long time for them to wait. Lanadra says that it's because they knew we were good choices and were holding out for us to be of age, but sometimes I wonder if they were just tired of waiting for anyone better.

I tie my dark brown hair back and secure again the saddlebags on the light saddle that new Riders used. Everything that new Riders used were plain and unspecialized – unmolded leather saddle, plain, awkward sword, simple training clothes, unfitted armor. I hate it, but we should be getting new items in the Land of Dragons. I give the leg straps of the saddle a final tug, and soon I feel myself being lifted into the air. Obsidian and Silba are flying, being led east through the mountains by Rimume.

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**Author's Note: **(This is Skaterofthebooks again) Thank you for taking the time to read my friends story, please, please, PLEASE! review for her! (This is from the author) You will get Caesar, and cookies (or Calypso if you prefer). (Back to me) OR you shall get your favorite HARRY POTTER character, and still cookies. Because I am a POTTERHEAD! (Okay, back to author) ... ... ... *awkward silence* ummm... Pi?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Hey, you, the seventeen people who have already read this (though none of you put this on story alert, shame on you) please review, because mysterious friend of mine is going CRAZY! She really wants you people to review! So please do, just a little smiley face, or a frowny face, or a thumbs up or down, anything, it will make. her. day. Okay, and now a message from your author:

Hi, people! Thanks for reading! It made my day to see that so many people had looked at chapter 1. Seventeen! That's great! From America, Poland, the UK, Australia, Vietnam, Germany, some others I forgot... you all are AWESOME! Anyway, another chapter will be up in a day or so... THANK YOU!

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Chapter 2 - Caesar

We're stopping for the night at the eastern edge of Woadark Lake. It's been a full day of riding, only and I'm stiff from sitting on Obsidian. Lanadra says that it will take about a week to get to the dwarf city of Farthen Dur comfortably. We'll be staying there for another two weeks before continuing to the Land of Dragons.

"All in all," she says, "it should take about five weeks to get to the Land of Dragons. You two will love Farthen Dur. The dwarves of the city are hospitable, as Orik's son Lokron is on the throne. He is kinder even than his father, who helped us win the Great War."

Lanadra had loved teaching us history when we were finished with our daily sparring, flying, and magic lessons while in basic training, and I'm getting the feeling that we were about to learn more.

"It is indeed amazing how-" Lanadra continues, but Rimume cuts her off.

_May I conduct this lesson? _she asks insistently.

Lanadra shrugs. _Go ahead. I shall prepare dinner._

Rimume begins: _The dwarves are the true natives of Alagaesia. They lived here before anyone else. Here is their story as it was told to Eragon-elda._ A picture, a memory, pushes itself into my head, progressing slowly at first, and then moving at full speed: Eragon-elda's initiation into the dwarf clan Ingeitum while a fierce, beautiful elvish maiden, a spicy, young, dark-skinned, distinguished lady, and Saphira-elda watched with approval. A sudden flash to a temple, where a dwarf priest showed Eragon-elda images of his gods and explained their story. A beautiful mosaic showing the legendary history of Alagaesia, but, then, an argument between the elvish maiden and the priest about the dwarfish religion. The memory fades. _This memory is passed to all new Riders and dragons, to help them understand cultural differences._

_ Rimume-ebrithil, who was the elf? _I ask.

_That was Arya Drottningu, now Arya Drottning, the beautiful and wise queen of the elves. You shall get to meet her and Fírnen-elda in your third year of Riding._

_ And the other woman? The human? _Calypso adds.

_ Nasuada. She led the Varden during the Great War, and then took charge of the Empire. She died in childbirth only eleven years later, though no one knows who the father was except Eragon-elda, Saphira-elda, Arya Drottning, and Fírnen-elda, who refuse to say. Her son was taken away by Elva, a friend who was of great service to Nasuada during the war, and their fate is unknown. Just before her death, Nasuada appointed Jörmunder as leader, and his line has ruled ever since._

_ And Jörmunder asked Eragon-elda to place a spell on him so that those of his descendants who would take the throne couldn't become immortal Riders, right? _Calypso asks. She's great at remembering Lanadra's history lessons.

_Indeed. He didn't want a poor leader to rule indefinitely, like Galbatorix did._

Lanadra senses the end of the conversation and calls us for dinner, which is a vegetable-berry soup. For the sixth time, I complain about the meatless meal and ask why Riders are vegetarians. For the sixth time, Calypso elbows me and whispers that I'll never be a decent Rider if I can't respect others' choices. For the sixth time, Obsidian threatens to lick her for insulting me. And for the sixth time, Rimume has to step in to keep him and Silba from fighting.

_You two will never be decent dragons with decent Riders if you don't behave! _She said angrily._ Even if you are three months old and your Riders are thirteen years, you need to be an example! The Riders get their power from wisdom and earned respect, which means that NONE of us can act like fools!_

Lanadra only sighs and says that we shall find the reason for the Riders' vegetarianism during our formal training. For the sixth time.

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**Author's Note: **Hello again, this is just a little factoid, if you were/are wondering what the title of this story means, then the answer is "wandering." Okay, I think that is all I have to say, just again, PLEASE REVIEW! For each review this story gets, begging pikachu will get a pikachu treat! We don't want pikachu to starve and die do we? That's just pokemon cruelty! Save the pokemon, review! (By the way, this is Skaterofthebooks, not the author, she wanted to make sure that you guys knew that.) Okay, bye!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **(from the author) Yay! I got my first review! Thank you very much, AwesomeDragonGirl. You just made my week and are indeed awesome. Anyway, people, here's chapter three. Enjoy, review, and tell your friends! As Skaterofthebooks often says, you'll get cookies - and who doesn't like cookies?

Yes, I do tend to say that often... well anyways, READ! (I greatly enjoyed it)

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Chapter 3 – Silba

Silver-bright-Rimume-ebrithil is in front of me, and dark-shimmery-Obsidian flies on my right. Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart sits straight on my back, joy at the thrill of the flight radiating through our connection.

Silver-Rimume-ebrithil calls orders as we fly: _Obsidian, tilt your left wing up a little more. Silba, tail down. No, not that far. Good. We shall spend the night a few miles west of Dras-Leona, just so you know. There's a small updraft coming..._

_/_

Today we begin at the base of the first of the towering-unreachable-Beor Mountains. Lanadra-ebrithil says that there is a legend of the Old Riders where one dragon flew over one of the Beors, and its scales changed to diamond from the heat of the sun.

/

The valley ends in a fast-tall-loud-waterfall with a big-deep-lake in front of it. Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart is surprised. "Where's Farthen Dur? I thought it was at the end of this valley!"

Two-legged-point-ear-Lanadra grins. "It is. Rimume, Silba, Obsidian, wash yourselves off. You must look presentable, now..."

I dive into the lake, splashing Obsidian, and open my eyes. The clear-blue-water silences the world and gives everything in it a tint the color of my scales. A few tiny-frightened-fish dart away as I approach through the lake. I go deeper, but it is no less clear here. I snap up a few larger fish. Obsidian swims past swiftly, startling me. I go deeper, and the sunlight dims. Here there is no other place, no world, no pain. I am happy.

I feel a burning in my chest now and instinctually propel myself out of the water to breathe in time to see elf-Lanadra-ebrithil hit the definitely-solid-rock beside the waterfall with a stone and shout something. And suddenly the definitely-solid-cliff becomes less solid, because great-tall-doors open noiselessly from the rock.

A strange-short-two-legged -dwarf, the first one I've seen outside of Lanadra and Rimume's memories, steps out and confers with Lanadra-ebrithil and Rimume-ebrithil for a moment in incomprehensible Dwarvish. Then the dwarf smiles broadly, turns to us, and says, "Greetings, new Riders! Dragons! So beautiful! Calypso and Silba, Caesar and Obsidian, welcome to Farthen Dur. It is at your disposal. Lanadra-elda, Rimume-elda, I'm sure you could find your way around by now, but if anyone at all gets lost, ask any dwarf you see. I am Dalome, of the Feldunost clan. Well, I'm sure you're anxious to see Farthen Dur... first, let's get you people cleaned up, although I see your dragons already enjoyed the lake."

_He's... interesting, _I say to Calypso, Caesar, and Obsidian. They agree. _What do you think Farthen Dur will be like?_

_We'll see, _Calypso says. _I'm honestly a little nervous. We'll really be judged here.  
_

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**Author's Note:** So like the author said that I often say, review, because you will get COOKIES!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** (from the Author, who for the people who read the first version of chapter three, is never to be mentioned as Lady Voldemort plus nose and hair again, that was extremely inappropriate of me, and I am extremely apologetic about that, but anyways, the actual author's note!) Hello again, people! Wow! Four and a half reviews for chapter 3 alone! That's great (The half review is from someone who didn't notice that Skaterofthebooks isn't the author)! Anyway, thanks to AwesomeDragonGirl, LockDaisy, Heather Testermanheather, live-love-learn-laugh, and DonDulan. Also, I'm sorry that chapters 1-4 are so short. Longer ones are coming, I promise! So anyway, enjoy, review, tell your friends! COOKIES!

Now from me, I noticed that we accidentally are no longer putting up a disclaimer, so this is for this chapter, and the past two, neither one of us are Christopher Paolini (last time I checked, we weren't even male!) So as some random person said, who I don't know, "I won nothing! I am disclaimer!"

Another thing from me, thank you those who have story alerted/favorited this story, it means a lot to both of us!

Anyway, on with the story!

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Chapter 4 – Obsidian

It seems to take forever to get through the endless-mountain-waterfall-tunnel. We stop at another set of hidden doors on the side of the hall, which open to a too-small-for-dragons-room. Strange-short-Dalome shows Caesar, Calypso-Caesar's-sister, and elf-Lanadra-ebrithil in and closes the door. I am slightly alarmed until they come out soon after. I lick the air.

_Caesar, you're actually clean._

_Shut up, Obsidian._

I laugh, startling Dalome, who jumps about his own height into the air.

/

At the end of the mountain-waterfall-tunnel, I see another set of enormous-stone-doors. Dalome stops us. "Calypso, Caesar, Silba, Obsidian, we are about to enter Tronjheim, the great dwarf city. Tonight you shall rest, and tomorrow evening will be your formal Presentation."

"What do you mean, Presentation?" Caesar asks.

"You will go before the Riders and dragons currently in Tronjheim, and Eragon-elda, Saphira-elda, Arya Drottningu, and Fírnen-elda will be watching, though you won't see them. It is at the Presentation that you show off flying and swordplay skills, and earn the most basic Gifts. The rest shall be explained in time. Now, on we go – we don't want to keep people waiting, do we?"

Two dwarf-guards open the enormous-stone-doors, and I am awestruck. Within big-mountain-Farthen Dur is a mountain-city-Tronjheim, as tall as some of the mountains of the Spine in itself. Before I have time to say anything about it, though, Dalome speaks: "Come – let's go to the Dragonhold. You can pick out rooms, and then get something to eat while we prepare them."

Caesar and I pick a room-cave-in-the-wall with just enough space for me, Caesar's belongings, a small table and stool, and Caesar's cot. There is another room-cave next to it that is a little bigger which is chosen by Calypso-Caesar's-sister and Silba-Calypso's-dragon. There are curtains drawn over some of the room-caves, but we don't actually see any dragons or Riders other than Silba, Calypso, Lanadra-ebrithil, and Rimume-ebrithil.

/

We eat in a long mess hall filled with short-courteous-dwarves, but still don't see any other dragons or Riders. Even Rimume-ebrithil and Lanadra-ebrithil aren't present. A dwarf-chef brings large salads, bread, cooked mushrooms, milk, and small glasses of wine for Caesar-the-partner-of-my-heart and Calypso. Two pairs of other dwarves follow, carrying a dead deer each for Silba and me. The deer is delicious, and Caesar's joy at having _something_ other than vegetable or berry stew to eat, even if it was still vegetarian, is obvious. The meal is finished quickly. _Maybe we should get back… _Calypso yawns. _We need to be awake tomorrow for the Presentation… _So we return to the Dragonhold.

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**Person who is letting the author use her account note:** Hi, I am taunting you with cookies! *swings cookie in hypnotizing manner* You will review this story, and you will then get a virtual cookie!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **

Now, we will call our author Luna, because I am getting tired of saying, "the author" and what not, so here is a message to you guys from Luna:

Hi again, people! So for a while this story might get a little crazy, but hey, the chapters are longer. The pigeon, I should explain, is a reference to an inside joke with my friends, who insisted I put one in. Anyway, thanks to the people who reviewed chapter 4 - The One Who Has No Names (which, by the way, is an awesome name), and AwesomeDragonGirl (our most loyal reviewer!). So, go and enjoy this chapter!

Now, a little thing from me; as I am looking at the story stats I see that over ONE HUNDRED of you people have looked at this story, that is AMAZING! And we both thank you so much! Just the thing is, only six of you have reviewed, and we really want to know what you guys think, it means a GREAT deal to us, you have no idea, even though this isn't my story, I still have a tinge of excitement whenever I see another review in my inbox, so please, give us that little tinge of excitement and review! Thank you! Now on with the story!

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Chapter 5 – Calypso

I awake expecting to be in my own room in the Teirm orphanage, trying to remember a fantastic dream where I became a Rider, but I see a rough-hewn cave with a dragon in it instead of the smooth ceiling I recall. _Silba, are you awake?_ No reply. _That figures. You must be tired after flying all that way…_

I silently pull myself off the cot and start walking toward the entrance, trying not to wake Silba, when I see a note on the table, in Lanadra's handwriting. I read slowly, as education had been neglected for the girls in the orphanage:

_Calypso and Silba,_

_I hope you are enjoying Farthen Dur, although you still need to do several things before Presentation tonight:_

_1._ _A breakfast is ready for each of you in the same hall where you ate dinner last night. This is not the formal Rider hall, but as you have yet to be Presented, it would not be allowed, much less proper, for you to eat there, as you are not yet officially Riders._

_2._ _Calypso – you need to visit the Riders' tailor to fit some new clothes. Directions to her room are on the back of this sheet. She is a bit… eccentric. Just watch out for the pigeon._

_3._ _Both of you should meet Rimume, Dalome, and I on the sparring field at noon to practice for the Presentation. Further instruction will be given there._

_If you have extra time, you may go to the library and study, although dragons are not allowed. There have been several accidents where careless dragons with fire have burned precious volumes. I'm sorry, Silba. You can fly above the city or explore as you wish, as long as you're careful._

_Enjoy!_

_Lanadra-ebrithil_

I smile and start to climb down the ladder to the floor of the Dragonhold, but stop and peek into Caesar and Obsidian's cave. They are both gone.

/

"So, I assume you got a note too?" Caesar asked me over the din in the mess hall.

"Yes."

"What do you think is with the tailor's pigeon?"

"How would I know?"

"You've got a point. Hey, my oatmeal's getting cold… do you think I could use magic to heat it?"

"Caesar… you and magic don't have… the best history," I warn. And it's true. The last time he tried a fire spell, a large tree started burning, he panicked, and… well, I don't want to think about that. No, Caesar's talent is definitely not magic. "The best idea would be to heat the water in the oatmeal – and we don't know that. And then-"

"Oh, shush, Calypso, it can't be that hard, I can manage. Now, let's see, the best way to heat something is with fire, right? So… brisingr!" The entire contents of the bowl burst into flame, startling the nearest dwarves. Caesar shrinks back from the fire, odd since he started it, for just a second before regaining his composure.

"Oh, Caesar! Again?" I say. "Adurna rïsa!" I direct the water that rises out of several nearby glasses to the fire, and it dies down to a pile of thick ashes. The drop in my strength is minimal. "That, Caesar, is how you use magic. Carefully. Really, Caesar, fire isn't the only way to heat something. You should know that. And how much strength did you lose from that?" I sigh. _Obsidian!_

_What?_ He had snapped up is breakfast – a pig – in an instant, and had flown off to talk with Silba. Now he is in his Dragonhold room by himself. _I assumed it would work too._

_Well, in the meantime, Caesar probably dumped half his energy into his oatmeal._

_Actually, he mostly used mine._

_You know what? _Caesar breaks in. _Let's just drop it and get going._

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**Author's Note:** (From Luna) So hopefully you have enjoyed, please review and tell your friends, you'll get virtual pie **(Now, if you, like me, don't like pie, then cookies you will get)**!. Or the Weasley twins, if you're an HP nut like us. :-) Also, extra points to you if you know the modern thing Calypso half-invented when discussing how to heat oatmeal.

(From Skaterofthebooks) So, for those of you complaining, the next chapter is amazing, and longer, so wait for that chapter if you have any complaints, but for now, just review! We. Are. Desperate. Here!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**

From Luna: Hello again, everyone! Apparently I'm again supposed to say that I don't own anything but my OCs, plotline, and a certain original setting that will soon come into play, hopefully around chapter fourteen or so. Now that that's done, THANK you to the reviewers, especially chapter 5 reviewers AwesomeDragonGirl, live-love-learn-laugh, The One Who Has No Names, and Ryan 're awesome and should get the Weasley twins, but when I called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, they were a a bit preoccupied with some escaped Pygmy Puffs. :-P Anyway, the chapters are getting longer, I promise. Chapter eight is, so far, 895 words. And now a shout out to our many international readers from Australia to Denmark to Sri Lanka **(DonDulan, you are amazing my dear sir, just amazing!)** to Canada and just about everywhere else. :-) So keep on enjoying, reviewing, and telling people!

Personally, I don't think that I have anything else to say to you people, just sorry that it is up so late in the day, I sort of almost forgot to update it, woops! But luckily I was reminded when I checked my email and saw that one of the stories that I follow had been updated :P. There was something else that I was going to say... but I can't remember what it was... I'll probably remember later on and tell you guys tomorrow. So, I think that I will stop my babbling and let you guys enjoy :)

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Chapter 6 – Calypso

Navigating the passages of Tronjheim to the tailor's room would be impossible even with Lanadra's directions, but Caesar's shortcomings with magic are (partially) made up for with his sense of direction. "Turn right! Left! Now go through this door. Left – no, not here, _there_, Calypso – and here we are!" He knocks.

The door swings open seemingly by itself. "Hello?" I call. "Is there anyone here?" Suddenly I see a burst of feathers, and something is flying in Caesar's face. I snatch at the bird, but can't grasp it before it scratches Caesar's temple, leaving three long but shallow gashes that will probably scar.

_Caesar!_ Obsidian yells. _You're hurt!_

_Oh, Obsidian, it's not that bad. Stupid pigeon got at me is all. If I had had my sword-_

_Oh, please excuse Edward, he's not in a good mood today,_ an unfamiliar someone says. We immediately close our minds, even to each other, not knowing how powerful or hostile that the unknown person – a dwarf woman, I could tell that much from my brief exposure to her mind – is. Then I see her standing there. "Hello! Sorry about Edward. Come here and we'll get something on those scratches," she beckons to Caesar, who steps into the room cautiously. I follow, still holding the pigeon Edward.

_Silba?_ I call.

_What? Do I need to come? Is Caesar okay?_

_No, it's not necessary. He's fine, as far as I know. Contact Lanadra or Rimume. Tell them about that bird's attacking Caesar. Check on this woman too._

After a pause, Silba says, _There. The dwarf is indeed the tailor. Caesar should be fine – Lanadra says to not even bother with a healing spell; it's not worth losing the energy, as you'll need it for the Presentation._

_Thanks._ As the possibility of danger has apparently passed, I keep the link open and hesitantly release Edward, who flutters out of the room. I see that the dwarf is now offering Caesar a small bundle of herbs to hold on the cuts. The tailor's room is large, with an enormous mirror ten feet tall in the center of a wall. An area of the floor is raised in front of this. Another wall has racks of fabric on it in uncountable colors. A corner holds a bed, small table, and two chairs, currently occupied by the dwarf woman and Caesar. A larger table in the middle is completely covered by miles of thread and yarn, knitting needles, pins, tools, scraps of fabric, belt buckles, strips of leather, and buttons. The floor is studded with hundreds of small gems – mostly sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

"Now," the dwarf woman says. "Let's get down to things. I am Sunderla, the tailor for the Riders. You have met Edward, my assistant. He was smart for a pigeon when I got him, but after a few alterations from Eragon-elda's late friend Angela, he's a genius and all but immortal, even if he's a bit moody. Now, Calypso, come on. Let's begin with you. Here, pick out seven styles. You must have a Presentation dress, a traveling dress, four everyday outfits, and another formal dress that isn't as fancy as the Presentation one for certain special occasions. Start with the last one I mentioned." Sunderla hands me a massive old book full of designs. I open it.

I page through the huge book for a moment before stopping suddenly on a page near the end of the section. "Ooh, that one! Definitely!" I say, pointing to a dress with a knee-length skirt, wide belt, and sleeves that were only three-inch strips of cloth on the arms, not the shoulders, overall an unusual but beautiful style.

Sunderla nods. "Excellent choice. Now, pick out the four outfits you could wear for anything informal, from everyday use to battle. Then we'll design your Presentation dress."

/

Every outfit includes three colors, as is the custom: mine are black, silver, and the same teal as Silba. As Caesar picks styles, Sunderla begins work on my clothes. By work, I mean using hundreds of spells to manipulate the items in the room. I don't know how she uses all of the necessary energy without appearing at all tired. When I ask Silba, she says she doesn't know any more than I do.

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**Skaterofthebooks Note:** That was 723 words of chapter you just read, and they are getting longer! (Really they are... well, either that or the author notes are getting EXTREMELY long. Anyway, this is a reminder to review, for then the Weasley twins will be yours, and if not them (if they still can't find the pygmy puffs in other words), then you will get... wait for it... you will get the opportunity to either ride a dragon, or play quidditch! So go review before this not the author note gets too long! Bye!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Note:** Hey guys, sorry it's so late, I went to go see Brave today (opening day! That's a first for me!), and then I had skating, and I only just got back, and I'm not going to say a lot at all today, because I just want to rip the contacts out of my eyes and sleep. So with that, here is "Luna!"

Hi, people! I still don't own much, etc. For the record, this is the second longest chapter I've written, and one of my favorites. Warning: foreshadowing! Also, contrary to popular belief, Edward the Pigeon is NOT named after a sparkly vampire. I've never read or watched Twilight. The name just fit the personality. Don't blame me. Anyway, thank you again to AwesomeDragonGirl, live-love-learn-laugh, and The One Who Has No Names, three people who ACTUALLY REVIEW. Like you should be doing when you're done with this chapter. Please. So on another subject, I may have to put chapters up every other day or something like that soon. Sorry. :-( But, in the meantime, ENJOY, REVIEW, TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

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Chapter 7 - Obsidian

It is three minutes to noon, and we are all in the sparring field, watching Lanadra-ebrithil as she clashes against a warrior-dwarf for practice. She finishes, winning with a slash near the throat that would have killed if she had meant it to, and joins us, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Rimume-ebrithil floats down from midair, landing lightly on the ground. Dalome appears from behind us.

"Hello! How are the scratches, Caesar? Sorry about that, though Sunderla seems to have done a good job," Lanadra-ebrithil says. "Anyway, we need to practice procedure for tonight's Presentation. You two have your outfits?" Caesar and Calypso both nod. "Excellent. Now, the Presentation will be held here on the sparring field. Obsidian, Silba, you will fly in…"

/

Back in the Dragonhold, Caesar puts on his Presentation clothes as I lick myself clean. His clothes consist of a silver shirt, white cape, leggings of my scale-color, and a Presentation sash also of my scale-color, studded like all Presentation sashes with four red rubies. His plain-boring-scabbard is attached to the back of this sash, with his plain-boring-sword in it.

_What do you think, Obsidian?_

_I like the color of the sash, but the cape is stupid._

_Of course you like the color; it was made after you! And this was the best Presentation outfit in that big old book of Sunderla's. You know that; after all,_you _pointed it out._

Calypso pushes into our conversation. _How do I look?_ She sends an image of herself in a black dress with tiny-puffy-off-shoulder-sleeves, a small hoop under the skirt, and silver fabric draping near the bottom. Her sash is a shallow-teal-river with four drops of ruby-red-blood. Caesar can't think of a thing to say, which she takes negatively, and she snaps off the connection with a mental stab.

_What did I do?_ He asks, bewildered.

Silba, who had been listening the entire time, answers bitterly: _Nothing. That's the problem._

_What?_

_/_

I dive down in a spiral, Caesar-the-partner-of-my-heart on my back, and pull up just in time to avoid crashing into the solid-clay-bone-breaking-ground. I shove open my wings and flap to a halt. Silba does the same about fifty yards away. Caesar and Calypso untie themselves from our saddles and slide off our backs, bowing deeply to the six Riders and their heart-partner-dragons that are the Young Legion. Their job, as Rimume-ebrithil explained, is to test the readiness of younglings for Gifts and the journey to the Land of Dragons.

The leading dragon of the Young Legion, large-ivory-Ricrid-elda, dips his head in congratulations. _I am impressed. You both have excellent flying skill, though there is the expected room for improvement. Silba, you pulled out of that last spiral a bit too late for comfort. If you had been in combat, you could have easily crashed. Obsidian, you needed to tuck your wings just a bit more on that loop. Still, it was a fine performance. Now for a sparring match. It is custom to test Riders against their own race, gender, and approximate age, if possible._ Two young-human-Riders step in from beside the field. One, the female, has short orange hair, bright-green-eyes, and freckles. The other has strange-dark-skin and strategic-quick-smart-smiling-eyes.

_He looks like her, _I say to Caesar, passing to him the memory Rimume gave us with Eragon-elda's adoption from the dwarves. _Nasuada._ He gives a brief acknowledging thought, but Ricrid-elda is calling for the battle to begin.

As the skirmish starts, it is clear that the opponents have the upper hand. Caesar's cape and Calypso's dress slow progress, while the opposing Riders are wearing clothes made for speed in battle– leggings and simple tunics. _Drop the cape,_ I say so that only Caesar can hear. He gives me a mental nod, disengages, and retreats to a distance where he safely tugs off the cape. Calypso gets the idea and slashes off the bottom foot of her dress. The crowd surrounding the field, made of regular dwarves, Riders, and dragons, gasps. _Sunderla won't be happy, _I warn Silba, who expresses a sort of perverse amusement at the thought. The clash continues, more even now. There is a blur of fast movement, and soon the dark-opponent-boy is on the ground, Caesar's sword at his throat.

"You're dead," he whispers, and the crowd cheers. But Calypso is still fighting, and is wearing down. Silba isn't permitted to give her any energy.

_Should I help her?_ Caesar asks me as he helps the boy up.

_I'm not sure it's allowed, but there really aren't rules in real battle, so why not? _He grins and jumps into the fight, slashing ferociously. The girl is definitely better than the boy, holding both Caesar and Calypso off for another minute before Caesar's sword lands at her chest and Calypso's, after a moment, at her throat. Caesar smiles.

"Dead."

* * *

**Author Note:** Hi again, I really like this chapter, bye-bye, review, same bribes as previous chapters, I feel as if I have magically injected a sleeping drought, I'm going to fall asleep any second. But before I do, shameless self promoting here. If you are a Potterhead, go check out my new Jily one shot. Bye, thank you, good night.


	8. Chapter 8

**EDIT: **As you guys have probably noticed, all the chapters have been updated, it was brought to my attention that the little stars seperating the sections had disapeared, so I went through adding little dashes in place of them, nothing else has changed.

** Author Note:** Number one, before we get to "Luna's" note to you, let me just tell you guys that I am SO sorry about the long wait, I am babysitting and just gah! I wasn't able to get on a computer before now, and the people are supposed to be coming back any moment, so bye! Here is Luna!

From Luna: Hello, readers! Ha! Eight hundred and ninety-one words! That's a record, if you're keeping track. This chapter held me up for quite a while. I couldn't come up with names for Firaks, Ren, or Quake for eons, so it literally took me three and a half weeks to write this. Anyway, THANK YOU AGAIN to AwesomeDragonGirl for her review. You're great! So, I still own little, yada yada yada. Enjoy, REVIEW, tell your friends! :-)

* * *

Chapter 8 – Caesar

I let the girl go and turn to the Young Legion. "Well?" I ask, panting. "How did we do?"

Thundul, the Urgal Rider of Ricrid, says nothing, though his eyes gleam with surprise. He mentally shouts so that all attending can hear: _You may possibly be the only youngling Rider who has ever assisted his partner in the sword test, Caesar. I'm not even sure it's allowed, but, just as your dragon said, there really aren't rules in real battle, yes? _I have no idea how he heard that. _Anyway, Caesar, your performance was exemplary for the Presentation. In three hundred years as a Young Legionnaire, only two others have defeated their opponents that swiftly, despite the educational difference. Very good job. Now, Calypso… your sword skills need much work, but you have still, just barely, passed. Now for your Gifts._

The boy and girl who fought us had disappeared during Thundul's assessment, but now return from behind us. The boy is carrying two rings, a white one and a black one, each six inches in diameter and four inches wide. The girl holds two silver necklaces. The boy starts, speaking with an accent I can't place. "These are for you dragons. The rings will grow with the dragons. They are enchanted so that, to scry the dragons, one must have their permission."

"These necklaces are similarly enchanted," the girl adds. "Here, they're yours. They shapes of the pendants are yours too. They can be used to identify you, your dragons – as the rings have the same symbols on them – or any of your things."

The boy offers me one of the two rings, the white one. I fit it on to one of Obsidian's neck spikes. It shrinks just a bit so that it is snug on the spike, the two inset rubies shimmering. The girl hands me the necklace. The pendant is a silver rhombus with a smaller inset obsidian stone of the same shape. I put it on my neck and look up to the Young Legionnaires. _Get on your dragons,_Thundul says. I clamber onto Obsidian while Calypso climbs onto Silba.

_Silba and Calypso, Obsidian and Caesar, welcome to the Riders!_ Thundul announces, and the crowd cheers. Three dragons roar, and the rest join in. The mountain shakes with the noise. I see Calypso muttering, and the din quiets to near nothing.

"There,"she says. "Hopefully they'll quiet down soon."

"Hey, guys! Congrats!" I whirl around. The orange-haired girl is grinning. She muct have done a charm like Calypso's. "My name is Pyxila. My dragon is Firaks. This," she says, gesturing toward the dark-skinned boy, "is Ren. His dragon's called Quake. We were Presented two weeks ago. We're leaving tomorrow, in fact." At this point, Calypso ends her spell out of exhaustion. Silba gives her a small amount of energy and takes off for the Dragonhold with Calypso on her back.

_Look who's dumped her energy now, _I snicker at her.

_Shut up, Caesar._

I turn my attention back to Pyxila and Ren. "Hey, you guys are really good with your swords."

Ren shrugs. "I prefer archery. Pyxila's definitively better."

"Well, still, you're good. So what did you do for the last couple weeks? What can we expect?"

"Lots of training," Pyxila answers. "We did a lot of sparring to prepare to fight you. You think the last months were hard? Just watch the next few weeks!" She stops suddenly and cocks her head a bit. "We've got to get back and get ready to leave. See you later!"

"Farewell, then, Caesar," Ren smiles, and follows her.

/

I wake up to Pyxila leaning over me, grinning. "Good morning," she says nonchalantly.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"I do apologize. I told her not to do that." Ren saunters up.

"Hey! What're you doing in here? My cave!"

_Caesar, be reasonable,_ Obsidian warns.

_You knew they were here?_

_Of course, _he saysmischievously.

I shake my head. Obsidian is in flight near three other dragons, Silba and two others – one burnt orange and the other bright purple – which I assume to be Firaks and Quake. Silba is doing a complicated series of flips and spins.

"We just wanted to invite you to breakfast before leaving." Pyxila says.

"And to do that you had to weirdly watch me sleep WHY?"

"We were only here a minute," she defends.

"Whatever. I assume you weren't doing this to Calypso?"

"No, she wasn't in her room."

_Um, Calypso? Silba? Where are you? You people really could have helped here…_

_She's right here, _Silba snaps. _Don't bother her. She's not coping well with Thundul's assessment._

"Okay, then. Fine. Let's go. Mind you, I'm only going with you because no one else has bothered to show me the Riders' hall. You two lead – I'm not letting her out of my sight," I say, pointing to Pyxila, who grins.

"Fine, then, keep up!" she chirps, and, jumping out of the mouth of the cave to the floor twenty-five feet down, runs down the hall at full speed. Ren rolls his eyes and then follows in the same fashion, dropping into a roll on the ground to keep himself from getting hurt.

_Oh, what the heck, _I think, going to the entrance.

_Um, Caesar, not the best idea- _Obsidian warns. But it's too late.

CRACK!

Ow.

* * *

**Not the author note:** Isn't that just an amazing chapter? So, to show Luna that you loved it, why don't you review? Remember the bribes! Like, flying on a dragon, or playing quidditch, or getting something from WWW! Yeah, got to go now, bye! Again, so sorry for the fact that this is almost tomorrow, (just two more hours), hopefully you guys can forgive me, show that forgivness in a review! Or maybe you can lecture me through a review, either one works! Yeah... I think that this is probably my shortest author note yet. :P


	9. Chapter 9

****Just a little thing before we start, from now on regular will be Luna, and _italics will be me! Okay? Good!_

**Author Note:** Hi again, people! Skaterofthebooks seemed to have not gotten to posting chapter eight until ten our time last night, so I'm sorry about that. I've gotten Peeves to thoroughly annoy her._ Ah! No Peeves, no water balloons next to the computer! Peeves! *Runs away with hands over head screaming at Peeves*_ But anyway, down to business. I personally absolutely love the sixth paragraph of this one, and the thoughts expressed in the first. Sorry this chapter is shorter! Anyway, I still own but a fraction of the ideas in here, et cetera. THANK YOU the reviewers for chapter eight, who shall be named tomorrow, since chapter eight's only been up half an hour while I'm writing this. _The reviewers are... are you ready?... AwesomeDragonGirl (yes, you are awesome!), The One Who Has No Names, and live-love-learn-laugh._ So now enjoy, review, and tell your friends, else I might send Edward the ninja attack pigeon after you. Or, if you review, you might get him on a day when he's nice, and he will do something awesome for you. You decide. :-)

_Okay, so back to me. I just want to apologize for the strange times that I am posting these chapters. During the middle of the day I skate, and then today we went to this mini German festival thing next to our library, which was just terrible, and then we went to eat, and then my little sister was on the computer. And then I had to fix all the previous chapters! (They have (or at least they SHOULD have, if they don't I will kill this computer) little seperatars in-between sections now!) Oh god, this is another long author note. I'll stop typing now and let you guys read! Good bye!_

* * *

Chapter 9 – Silba

Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart is anxious. And no longer just about foolish-Thundul's thought of her swordplay, but also about reckless-Caesar's fall. He had apparently tried jumping twenty-five feet from his cave to the shiny-Dragonhold-bottom-red-stone-Isidar-Mithrim. He broke his left arm, the fool. And, being left-handed, this was obviously a problem. So now Calypso, Obsidian, and I are sitting outside a small-busy-room where magicians and Riders try to fix his arm. Obsidian is worried, but Calypso is somehow even more concerned. I'm getting a little tired of comforting them when I hear Quake and Firaks. They land in an open area and bend to allow their Riders to easily dismount. It strikes me how much Firaks looks like a glowing-fire-ember in the light of the dim-red-dwarven-lamps.

_We heard about Caesar, _Firaks says, and nudges Pyxila forward roughly. _Someone wanted to apologize for getting the idea in his head._

"Sorry," she states. "I remember I fell like that once… messed up my wrist. I shouldn't have acted like that." Ren nods in minimal approval, and Quake adds something, but I'm distracted by Sunderla, who is coming out of the room where they are treating Caesar.

She addresses Obsidian, Calypso, and I after a quick hello to Ren, Pyxila, Quake, and glowing-ember-Firaks. "He broke the bone all the way through, so that it was in two different pieces. We managed to put them back together, but it's going to be fragile for a while. We also had to heal his leg a little."

As she says this, Caesar comes out of the room looking just fine, if still a little pained. Pyxila smiles sympathetically, but Calypso just bursts into tears.

/

The partner-of-my-heart has never spent this much time sparring. She whirls, twirls, clashes for hours against anyone and everyone. A few she beats, some she draws against, most end up with their swords at her throat. She has refused contact with Caesar after learning he was fine, she generally ignores Obsidian, and her only contact with me has been to ask how she is doing from my point of view. Her only real contacts right now are Lanadra, Rimume, and her opponents. I sit patiently on the field, but I still wonder where this is going to end.

/

According to Lanadra, we will be leaving tomorrow. Calypso has only just given up on her pursuit of better sparring skills today. She has improved greatly, but is very weary, despite my assisting with some energy.

We are at lunch in the Riders' hall. It is an enormous room under the city, with tall-vaulted-ceilings two hundred feet up, so that at any given time there might be four or five other bright-shimmery-dragons circling above. Right now I am watching a bronze-colored one do barrel rolls while waiting for Lanadra, Caesar, and Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart to finish eating their meals. The remains of my supper, a large hog, lay at my feet.

Lanadra starts to say something that sounds important, so I lazily tune in: "-check out with Dalome before we go. We'll be traveling along this river, mostly," she says, pointing at a map on the table. "Rimume can carry most of what we'll need, but pack your clothes, snacks, and personal things in your saddlebags. Finally… I'm required to say this because of some rather unusual circumstances… don't look in my gold saddlebags. If something happens to Rimume and I, take them to Eragon-elda or Blodhgarm-elda the instant you get to the Land of Dragons. I've taken… precautions… so don't try to open them yourselves. The black ones will have the food, waterskins, and maps. Got it? Good. Now, Caesar, if you don't mind, please take Obsidian to the kitchens and tell the cooks we're leaving tomorrow. Give them this note. Thanks. Calypso…" she smiles sympathetically as Caesar goes off, "don't be so hard on yourself. Swordsmanship will certainly get you far, but you can take other paths, Calypso, in magic or education or as a Legionnaire. Since the Great War was won, you can choose. You are, after all, a Shur'tugal." Calypso smiles.

* * *

**_Skaterofthebooks Note:_**_ Hey guys! Go review or else Edward the ninja pigeon shall attack you! I'm going to go finish writing my story now... or at least one of the trillion that I have... REVIEW! Thank you, bye!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Author Note:** From Luna: Hello again, people! For the record, this one's eight hundred and forty-five words. Thanks, as always, to AwesomeDragonGirl and live-love-learn-laugh for reviewing! Why don't the rest of you give it a try? Please? Just a smiley face, or an on-a-scale-of-one-to-ten ranking, or a question of why I did or didn't write something. Please. Anyway, chapter ten is AWESOME, at least to me, so I'm not going to hold you up longer. Enjoy, REVIEW, tell your friends!

From moi! You know guys, I had a whole spiel set out for you guys which I thought up when I was playing with my little brother about an hour ago, but I can't think of it now... so enjoy!

Oh yeah, just a reminder, neither of us own anything big... like the Inheritance Cycle... well, we own copies of the series, just not the actual idea of it... gosh this is really awkward... let me restart! We get no money off of this! Okay ta da! Good -bye!

* * *

Chapter 10 - Caesar

We get out of the ridiculously long and dark tunnel after what I guess is about twenty-four hours – we spent the night in the tunnel – and I squint at the daylight, bright, at least, for now, as there are some dark clouds edging the western horizon. At least we're no longer in the Beors. The tunnel opened up to the edge of the main range. Lanadra runs through the list of items we're supposed to have in our saddlebags again, like she has done three times already.

"Presentation clothes and sashes?" she calls.

"Yes," Calypso and I say in unison.

"Dress clothes? Tunics? Leggings? Belts? Caesar, do you have your good pants? Calypso, your hair ribbons? Armor? Sword? Scabbard? Bow and arrows?"

"We don't have bows or arrows," Calypso points out.

"Oh, that's right, they're no longer standard. Very well. Waterskins?

"YES!" I yell, maybe a little harshly. But, honestly, I'm nervous.

"Really, Caesar."

"Sorry, Lanadra-ebrithil."

She shakes her head, but smiles. "Then let's go! The less we're in that storm, the better." She jumps onto Rimume while Calypso and I climb onto our dragons. "Caesar, put on the necklace. Thank you." _Rimume, shall we go?_

/

The storm was surprisingly slow and only catches up to us six days later, just as the sun is beginning to near the horizon. The first thing that hits is the wind. It's coming from the southwest, so it's not a problem, as we are heading northeast. In fact, we're going almost twice as fast as usual, which is good. Then the rain comes – sheets of water that shroud the landscape in darkness. Lanadra casts a spell to keep the rain out of our faces, but Obsidian is still having difficulty, and I can't even see Silba to check her progress. Calypso casts her mind to Lanadra, Rimume, Obsidian, and I.

_Shouldn't we land?_ she pleads. _I can't see Rimume or Obsidian, and Silba isn't doing much better._

_I'm fine! _Silba retorts, but I get a flash of her actual thoughts – confused and oddly miserable, as she usually loves any type of water – underneath.

Rimume thinks for a minute. _With this tailwind, we've probably gone far enough for today. Very well. Let's land and rest for the night. I see some rocks up there; we can take shelter underneath._

I see them only as we're landing because of the rain – massive boulders, sitting on top of a small hill. Three enormous slabs, each easily thirty feet long, lean against a near-spherical middle boulder that I estimate at forty feet tall. An enormous tree is stationed just behind the formation. There is a small hollow at the base of the middle boulder that, oddly enough, doesn't seem to be getting wet. I comment on this to Lanadra, who smiles and remarks that "it seems as if someone has been making preparations for us." She runs around the formation and comes back moments later with a pile of dead branches from the tree, which she throws into the hollow. "Rimume, do you care to do the honors?" Lanadra asked. Rimume blinks and lets out a jet of flame that made the rain hiss and steam and set the branches on fire.

Obsidian curls up under one of the slabs right away, but I sit and watch the fire for a while. The smoke curls into shapes, twisting so that it first looks like our house in Teirm, then a dragon. Or perhaps it's all just me.

Lightning flashes, but the light is blocked from the ground by shadows. I look quickly toward the others, but they are asleep. _That's odd, I thought Lanadra always took first watch._

Obsidian, awakened by my comment, blinks at me. _She must be tired. We'll keep watch until-_

BOOM.

_What's-_

BOOM.

Lanadra, Rimume, Calypso, and Silba jerk awake. Lanadra swiftly ties on her sword belt and draws her sword. Thin and silver, it is beautiful but lethal, and rumor has it that it is a near-exact replica of the one the great Rider Vrael used before the first Great War. I grab my sword as well, and Calypso fumbles for her scabbard on the ground.

"Close your minds!" Lanadra yells as she runs toward Rimume. "Close your minds and ride!" She stops suddenly, turns back, grabs Rimume's black-and-gold saddlebags, and throws them at me as the lightning flashes. I catch them and stand there, shocked , but Calypso is yelling for me to come, barely audible over the downpour.

Obsidian and I fly east, Silba and Calypso next to us. I turn around on Obsidian's back to look again at our campsite. Three constant jets of fire dance in the sky, and then two very unnatural bolts of lightning, one dark red and the other a weird gray, crackle toward one point between their origins. In the next real lightning flash, I see a single figure lying motionless on the ground. I look at the gold saddlebags lain quickly on Obsidian, then back, where darkness has again swallowed the campsite.

Lanadra.

* * *

**Author Note: **Oh look, it's actually a bottom author note from Luna! Here it is!: Hi! Hope you enjoyed that! Okay, my life's about to get CRAZY, so I'm not going to be posting tomorrow, and perhaps not the day after that. I'm trying, but it may get a bit more sporadic for a while. :-( Put it on story alert, and you'll know when chapter eleven's up! Thank you!

So guys, what do you think of the ending of this chapter? We want to know!


	11. Chapter 11

**Author Note:** Hello dear, treasured, readers of this story. The next chapter is here! And along with this chapter, comes a note from our very own Luna!

Hello, everyone! I didn't want to leave you hanging for too long, so here's chapter eleven! It might be another few days before I post chapter twelve, though. Anyway, thanks to reviewers AwesomeDragonGirl, The One Who Has No Names, and Sparxius. This chapter took some research, I must say. I've never even touched a deer hide in my life, much less tanned one, so if that section is completely off, I'm really sorry. But no more delays. Enjoy, review, tell your friends! :-)

Yeah, and another thing, this is just a little shout out to an amazing author, SimplySupreme, she has no idea I am doing a shout out to her, but I have been reading her stories lately, and I believe her to be an amazing author, so go check her out!

Now, on to this story which neither one of us own any part of except for the characters which Luna made up and the plot line, other than that, all credit goes to Christopher Paolini!

I think that's all I have to say... so ta-ta for now!

* * *

Chapter 11 – Silba

I do not know, really, what is happening. I don't know what to do but fly. So fly I do. I soar over flat-changeless-plains and, occasionally, puny-tree-covered-streams, where we stop for food and water, never risking waiting more than a few hours. Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart sleeps and eats on my back, then gives me most of her energy. Caesar and midnight-Obsidian, flying beside us, do just the same. We risk only tenuous connections with our heart-mind-partners, and none with the other pair.

Caesar shouted just after the storm that he had seen Lanadra dead on the ground and Rimume fighting against two unknown-evil-dragon-foes, spouting fire and whitish flashes of energy. Then he saw, in a flash of lightning, silver-bright-Rimume-ebrithil fall to the ground next to her Rider and move no more.

/

We fly for three long-hot-days and three long-cold-nights, stopping six times. Calypso's repeated gifts of energy have kept me going this long, but she is now near unconscious, and I decide that we must stop. I see a small-green-stream-forest where we can spend the day and I land. Obsidian follows suit with tired-confused-Caesar on his back. _What's going on? _Caesar asks sluggishly.

_My Rider is almost passed out, I am tired and hungry, and I'm assuming you two aren't faring too well either. I know Lanadra told us to fly, but we can't go much farther. Do we even know where the Land of Dragons is? No, we must stop. Now._

No one bothers to argue. As it is just before dawn, the best time to hunt, I fly off to find game for midnight-dark-Obsidian and I while he keeps watch. I only have to go a few thousand yards to find a herd of deer that are still asleep. I manage to kill five – a pointy-horn-buck, two does, and two spotty-puny-fawns – before they learn of my presence and flee. I bring the prey back to our little camp, where I find Caesar hesitantly trying to start a fire with magic until Calypso, rolling her eyes, does so with a single word. Caesar silently begins to skin the sharp-antler-buck while Obsidian and I share the remaining four deer, which are tender – especially the younglings – but without as much fat as I like on my kills. Calypso, I note after finishing my meal, is already asleep under a large maple tree.

Caesar finishes skinning the deer, pulls some of the fat off, puts the meat on a long stick, and sets it up on a spit over the fire. He then goes to a thick branch on a nearby tree, drapes the buck's hide over it, and scrapes it with one of the bones. Then he takes the cooked deer off of the spit and lays the hide over it, careful not to let it too close to the fire. He continues with a shortened tanning method until the brown-buck-hide becomes softer and cleaner. In between tanning steps, he cuts up the cooked meat, reheating parts occasionally. Just as he finishes, Calypso wakes up, and they eat together.

"Mmm, Caesar, this is good! Where did you learn how to cook?" She said after tasting the dark-tender-buck-deer-meat. Caesar shrugs, finishes eating silently, and goes to sleep on the deer-hide under the maple tree. Obsidian is already asleep. I decide it wouldn't be a bad idea, and lay down as well.

_Silba?_

_What, Calypso?_

_Why does Caesar have problems with fire?_

I think for a moment. _I don't know, little one. But everyone has secrets, and that is Caesar's. It is his, and only his, to tell._

_Very well, I guess. I just wish he trusted me more._

_He already trusts you with his life._

_So why doesn't he tell us?_

_I guess he thinks it worth more than one life. But now is not the time. Could you keep watch while I rest?_

_Yes, but we should leave in a few hours. It's already noon._

_I understand. Wake me if there is a problem. _I pause. _I'm sure that Caesar will soon decide that we can be allies in whatever battle he is fighting, and then we will meet his enemy with sharp claws._

_Indeed we will._

* * *

**Author Note: **Can anybody think of a reason that Caesar might have problems with fire? Well, I got to run! Bye! See that little, not so little anymore button right beneath this? To operate it needs clicks, and if you click on it already, then why don't you write a review as well? That would make it very happy! So do it! Okay, bye! Really got to run! Remember to check out SimplySupreme!

Another thing, I really hate to smell of oatmeal, my little sister just made some and it exploded in the microwave and just EWWWWW!

Also, my little sister is calling me a smart $$, and she's TEN! so I tell her to call me a smartdonkey, but then she just continues saying to first thing! Grrrr! I hate society, they have corrupted my little sister.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author Note:**From me: Holy cow guys has it been a long time! But our dear author has been on vacation, and those dang blasted hotels don't seem to realize that wifi is a necessity! But we can't all buy it! *shakes head* Well, without further ado so that you don't have to wait any longer, here is Luna's author note!

_Hola, people! Sorry about my rather extended seemed that we ended up in the only hotel in the US that doesn't have free wifi already… Well, regardless, I have it again, so now for chapter twelve! Enjoy, review, tell your friends!_

And I'm just going to pop in again, neither one of us own anything!

But before you start the next chapter, a little refresher, previously Lanadra has been killed, the four go and start flying in some direction, hoping to reach the Land of the Dragons, and we find out that Caesar has issues with fire for some unknown reason.

* * *

Chapter 12 – Obsidian

We leave as the great sun is just touching the horizon in the west. Just before I took off, Caesar pulled a map from Rimume-ebrithil's black saddlebags and stared at it for a while.

"It's not on here!" he exclaimed. "We must've been going the wrong way for at least three days, because this stream isn't on here!"

_We've been going due east,_ I reminded him.

"Yes, but we had to go further north. See?" he said, pointing to places on the map. "I remember that part over there, but then we went off into the uncharted part over here."

_So we'll just go north for a while._

"Well, we had better get back on this map soon, or else-"

"Or else what? You'll set us on fire?" Calypso snapped. Caesar stared after her as she ran to Silba and took off.

"-Or else we'll only get more lost," he said slowly, a slight glint of fear in his eyes, even though she was long out of earshot. Once we caught up, I expected there to be a terrible-mind-stabbing-heated-argument, but there was none. Instead, cold-stony-silence filled the day.

/

Four days and three nights have passed since our last stop of length, and icy-dead-silence just grows. The leftover deer-meat that Calypso dried with a spell is gone, our Riders are tired, and Silba and I must eat. But I see something on the horizon, something like a large lake, or the vast-great-sea near Teirm. I must investigate.

_What do you think that is? Is there an ocean on the map?_

_Not on this one, _Caesar replies, _but there's another map. Let me check. I hear him rustling papers for a moment. Yes, it seems that the Land of Dragons is an archipelago. And it's a good way off, too. We'll need to resupply on the coast._

/

We stop in a grove of trees near the coast where birds and deer are plentiful. Silba and I eat our fill, and Caesar and Calypso prepare another big-tan-point-antler-buck. Calypso takes the salt out of some seawater with a spell, storing some in a water skin Caesar made from the new buck-hide. Then we all sleep for a while. Twenty-four hours after landing here, we take off again, flying almost due north over the ocean. Silba enjoys the great-wet-sea, skimming the surface with her tail. Soon the ice-cold-silence between Caesar-the-partner-of-my-heart and Calypso crumbles, and we play games of riddles to pass the time.

_Say my name and I vanish. What am I?_ Calypso asks.

_Silence, _Silba says. _That's easy. How about this one? I see without eyes, I fly without wings. I light up the darkness and can make anything. What am I?_

_Thought,_ I say immediately.

_Here's one I heard in Teirm once: a box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid,_ Caesar says.

_A chicken's egg, obviously. Calypso, you should know this one: strong and stout, thirteen stars upon his brow, living stone sat shaping dead earth into dead stone._ I add.

_The late dwarf king Orik making a thardsvergûndnzmal. I heard that one in Farthen Dur. Eragon came up with it during the Great War,_ she smiles.

_The dwarf king Orik making a what?_ Caesar questions.

_A thardsvergûndnzmal. Really, Caesar, we learned about them in the third week of our studies with Lanadra._

_And I still can't say it._

/

Three long-exhausting-days-nights later, I see something ahead that looks like a tall, black mountain-spire. Caesar consults his map. "That's on here!" he yells gleefully. "It's on here! 'The Spire of Thorns,' it's called. And it looks like we're only a couple of days' ride from the Land of Dragons! Yes! We're almost there!" I angle down to the island on which the Spire sits. We were not lost.

* * *

**Author Note: **So? How did you guys like it? Let us know in a review!

_Well, since that's done, now for the rest of it: Thanks to Sparxius, AwesomeDragonGirl, The One Who Has No Names, and live-love-learn-laugh for reviewing, CP for the use of most things I don't own, J.R.R. Tolkien for a riddle (did anyone get the reference?), and my friends and some random blog for the other riddles. Review! You'll get Aragon from LOTR!_

Now this is sort of random, but Luna's words reminded me of it, a few days ago I was really excited to be in a lego store again, and I haven't been an avid fan of lego's in a while, but why was I excited? There were Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and Star Wars lego's! I was over the moon!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author Note:** _Hola, people! Okay, this chapter is so awesome (in my opinion) that I'm just going to let you read it now. Same stuff as usual; thanks in the next chapter. Enjoy, review, tell your friends (and, honestly, everyone else)!_

__Hey guys! This is an awesome chapter, I heartily agree! And you should all check out PullPush and her Inheritance Cycle FanFiction after you read this chapter, because I am beta-reading it! And it is also awesome!

* * *

Chapter 13 - Calypso

We agree to rest at the Spire for twenty-four hours before leaving again. The dragons hunt for all of us, and I light the campfire and look for edible berries and roots. Obsidian found a fresh spring at the base of the Spire when we landed, so Caesar is refilling the waterskins.

Caesar says after studying the maps that we are only a couple days away from the Land of Dragons, and that we should reach a sentry post within a day and a half. The unspoken part is that whatever had attacked Lanadra and Rimume would have a smaller area to search if they are following us. Perhaps that is why we leave after just fourteen hours at the Spire of Thorns.

/

We are flying, making good time toward the Land of Dragons.

And I smack myself in the head.

"The necklaces and rings! No one can scry us!" I yell to Caesar.

"So? That way, those fools who killed Lanadra and Rimume can't see where we are!"

"But neither can Eragon or anyone looking for us!"

"To scry someone, you have to have seen them, right?"

"Yes, but he did! Remember what Dalome said? He was watching our Presentation! Even if he wasn't, he could use Ren's memories, or Pyxila's or Quake's or Firaks's! He was expecting us days ago! If he saw where we were, he could have someone fly out and help! So take your necklace off, and Obsidian's ring!" I pull at the clasp of my silver-teardrop necklace, tug off Silba's ring, and throw them into the saddlebags.

/

I should have listened to Caesar.

They came from south of us. Two Riders with long scarlet hair and eyes. One, the male, sits on a charcoal-gray dragon. The other, the female, rides a dragon that has the dark red hue of dried blood. I can't tell what race the Riders are, although I think that the woman is an elf. The man might be human.

_Shades._ I think.

_Shade Riders._ Silba says.

_With Shade dragons._ Obsidian adds.

_FLY FASTER!_ Caesar screams. We all connect our minds and build a mental wall around ourselves. Silba nearly doubles her speed. I start casting every ward I can think of around the two of us, and remind Caesar how to do the same for himself and Obsidian. But the larger dragons are gaining on us. Within three hours, they are upon us. They have the advantage of fire. Our wards block it, but it takes a lot of energy.

The red dragon flies to Silba's side, and they engage. It is far larger than Silba, and the battle is nearly won at the outset. I draw my sword, though it is futile. I can't swordfight. I never could. Parry. Thrust. Slash. Pain. Her sword grazes my arm, but I wince, set my jaw, and ignore it. Silba and the red dragon disengage. I catch a glimpse of Obsidian tussling with the gray dragon for a moment. He is also losing painfully, several wounds glistening with hot blood.

SNAP. My sword shatters midswing, and the Shade Rider grins. She goes in for the kill. Silba disengages and retreats to a nearby island, bleeding from at least thirty wounds throughout her body.

_Silba! _It is obvious that she can't hold on much longer. There's just too much bleeding for me to help. The partner of my heart and mind and soul will die, right here. I remember what Lanadra said: _You can't risk losing yourself with your partner._ I gently cut off our connection. The last thought she shares with me is the notice of another dragon nearby – shining warmly in the sun.

Another dragon. Saphira? Firaks? No. It's too red. But I don't have time to think on it. The Shade woman has landed and gotten off of her dragon. She saunters to me gloatingly. I have no more defenses.

TWANG. An arrows flies at her from behind me. It hits her in the head, and she disintegrates, as well as her dragon. I turn around slowly to see a man with black hair and spirited gray eyes lowering his bow. His bright red dragon is over twice Silba's size. A fully healthy Obsidian stands next to the red dragon with Caesar on his back, also looking well, despite the battle that had just finished.

The man smiles tightly at me. "You know, I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do that again," he says, placing his hand on Silba and starting to heal the deep gashes the other dragon had given her. "I had enough of Shades when I fought one in Gil'ead with my brother."

* * *

**Author Note:** Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun!

Who is it? Yell it out at the top of your lungs! Let the world know who has come to save them!

It's exciting no?

If you touch this little blue button, (and by the way, every time that button is clicked, you make a person very happy!) then you will sometime soon (maybe) get the "mystery" savior! *insert minions from Despicable Me going, "Oooo"*


	14. Chapter 14

**Author Note: **Hello, people, I'm back! Sorry about the vacation, all three and a half weeks of it without many updates. Anyway, I had gotten some questions as to what happened to the Shade dragons, and admittedly I was a bit vague. "An arrows flies at her from behind me. It hits her in the head, and she disintegrates, as well as her dragon." When the "mystery" guy shoots the Shade elf, the dragon disappears with her. Sorry about that. But on another note, I got a lot of new reviewers lately. Thank you to Leader of Sky Clan, Sparxius, live-love-learn-laugh, PullPush, The One Who Has No Names, Revan Remasked, cayucoscali, and that guest who didn't choose to leave a name! You people are awesome! Now enjoy, review, tell your friends! _(That my dear friends was all Luna)_

_Hello, this is Skaterofthebooks, I just want to say that I also need to apologize, I should have gotten this up yesterday, but I didn't, so I'm sorry for that. But, I don't want to waste any more of your time, especially seeing as you most likely barely remember this story if you are an active FF reader, so I will give you a little reca_

* * *

Chapter Thirteen Refresher

TWANG. An arrows flies at her from behind me. It hits her in the head, and she disintegrates, as well as her dragon. I turn around slowly to see a man with black hair and spirited gray eyes lowering his bow. His bright red dragon is over twice Silba's size. A fully healthy Obsidian stands next to the red dragon with Caesar on his back, also looking well, despite the battle that had just finished.

The man smiles tightly at me. "You know, I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do that again," he says, placing his hand on Silba and starting to heal the deep gashes the other dragon had given her. "I had enough of Shades when I fought one in Gil'ead with my brother."

* * *

Chapter 14 – Silba

When the elf-shadow-woman and her dragon attacked us, Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart thought us doomed. I have to admit, I thought so too. The shadow-blood-dragon's claws burned where they cut, making them much deeper and wider than they should have been. When the black-haired-red-dragon-Rider healed them, the usual spells didn't work, and he had to use far more advanced ones. He shook his head, muttering swears and something about some sort of oil. My scales itched terribly as they knit back together, and I can still feel where I was slashed.

The man introduced himself as Murtagh and his dragon as Thorn, but said little more other than telling us to follow him.

_Should we?_ I asked.

_He got rid of the Shades. They weren't killed, but he managed to get rid of them for now. And he healed us. We should stay with him if he's going to the Land of Dragons, _Obsidian reasoned.

So we are. We fly east, flanking Thorn across the sea. Islands dot the shiny-blue-ocean. Most are too small to be of note, but I see some larger ones in the distance.

"This is where I turn back," Murtagh yells from Thorn. "I want you to tell Eragon a few things for me. First, the lost four have found shadows, and that Gil'ead has happened again. Secondly, tell him that they have special pearl oil. Finally, say that my last has arrived."

"Why don't you talk to him yourself?" Calypso asks warily, knowing that older Riders could easily contact each other at long distances.

"Because someday it will be of use to you as well." He winks at us, and huge-red-Thorn turns around and soars west.

Calypso and Caesar talk amongst themselves, but I am too agitated. Who was that, the man called Murtagh? What happened in Gil'ead? Who is his brother who fought a shadow-one with him? What is the "pearl oil," and what does he mean by "my last has arrived?" These thoughts spin in my head until we are almost to the first large island, where someone calls, interrupting them.

"WHO ARE YOU?" yells the magic-voice. "IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!"

Calypso shakily utters a spell to strengthen her voice, then calls: "I AM CALYPSO, RIDER OF SILBA. MY BROTHER IS CAESAR, RIDER OF OBSIDIAN."

"WHERE ARE YOUR EGG LEGION ESCORTS?"

The unknown-magic-voice comes from an elf-woman atop a bright-hot-pink-dragon, flying towards us quickly. By the time Calypso responds to her, she is nearly beside us, and no augmentation is necessary.

"They – they – they were killed. By Shades. Shades with dragons…" She finally breaks down in tears.

The elf-woman-guard's expression softens, though she still seems to be a bit skeptical. "Follow me," she says.

We angle southeast over the island. Several other dragons in flight glance at us. We fly over part of a big-silver-lake and much forest. I hear the sound of fighting and look down to see an enormous sword-practice field. The hot-bright-dragon swerves upwards to get to the top of a cliff on the mountain in the middle of the island. On top of the cliff is a huge-white-wall-blue-roof-tall-structure. A painting of a multicolored dragon adorns the front.

We land on the cliff, and the bright-hot-pink-dragon turns. "This is the house of Eragon-elda and Saphira-elda," the elf-woman says. "Tell them everything. Yours is a difficult story." Her dragon lauches into the air.

Calypso has stopped crying. She dismounts me to open the door.

_I'm scared, Silba._

_Isn't everyone?_

* * *

_**Skaterofthebooks Note: **Hey guys, what do you think of it? Let us know by leaving a review! . . . Did you know that every time you press a review cookie monster gets a cookie? That, AND, you make somebody's bad day, into a good day! So just drop a little review, let us know what you think, we will be much obliged! __  
_


	15. Chapter 15

**Author Note:**

Hello, dear readers! Sorry about the breaks; summers are crazy. Thanks to reviewers AwesomeDragonGirl, live-love-learn-laugh, PullPush, The One Who Has No Names, and Revan Remasked. Well, anyway, I'll let you now get to enjoying, reviewing, and telling your friends! ~Luna

I agree, summers are crazy, which is the reason for the strange update times, at least at my end of the internet! But without further ado, here is chapter fifteen! ~Skateofthebooks

* * *

Chapter 15 – Caesar

I open the door, half-expecting Saphira to be behind it, possibly attacking me for getting Lanadra and Rimume killed. But she isn't. There is only a single man in that enormous hall.

"Welcome to the Land of Dragons, Caesar and Obsidian, Silba and Calypso. I wish you could have come at a better time. I see you have met Silveria and Kaito, one of our pairs of Guard Legionnaires." He smiles tightly. "Do me a favor and please move out of the doorway so Saphira can get in." We shuffle to the side. There's a pause, and then something big and blue swoops through the tall doors. Saphira is a little less than twice the size Rimume was.

_ Ah, these are Silba and Obsidian? You both did an excellent job on the Presentation flight test. Thundul and Ricrid are too hard on new Riders. But now is not the time. Could you tell us how you got here?_ she asks.

We do, exchanging sentences so often that I sometimes lose track of who is talking. We tell them everything except my problems with starting fires. Calypso starts explaining about the first attack where Lanadra and Rimume die, but she chokes up and Obsidian must finish. When I get to where the Shades attacked us, Eragon stops us. "They were all Shades? Are you sure?"  
Calypso nods. "It seemed that way. And – and we almost lost. The elf woman fighting me broke my sword, and then her dragon, it – it…" she breaks off, unable to finish.

_Almost killed me,_ Silba cuts in. Its _claws burned where they scratched. Even now I can feel it. She shudders. Calypso broke our connection, but not before I could warn her of another dragon coming._

I continue. "It flew right up to us, and its Rider shot arrows through the head of the Shade Rider I was fighting, and the Shade Rider and Shade dragon disappeared. He healed Obsidian and I, and then shot the ones Calypso and Silba were fighting, and they disappeared too."

Obsidian finishes: _He healed them, and then introduced himself as Murtagh and his dragon as Thorn. He told us to tell you that the lost four have found shadows and that Gil'ead has occurred again._ Eragon looks very concerned at this, which scares me a little. _He says that they have some sort of pearl oil. _Saphira's thoughts now seem twice as dark. _Finally, he said that his last has arrived._ This gets an entirely different response – Eragon smiles.

"I was waiting for that," he says almost mischievously, then pauses, and his expression hardens. "Blodhgarm!" he calls.  
A elf, or what should be an elf, appears from a side doorway. He is covered in blue-black fur, and his eyes are catlike. Calypso and Silba strain toward him hungrily, almost as if entranced, though I have no idea why.

"What do you need?" the wolflike elf purrs. Literally purrs. Weird.

"Assemble the Legionnaires, any other Rider pairs over two hundred years old, and the hearts. I will need to meet with them in half an hour at the Hall of the Gilded Lily. Then get someone to give these four a tour and find them a house. I then need to see the last two Rider pairs that arrived, Pyxila and Firaks and Ren and Quake. And then-"

"Um, Eragon? Um – uh – I mean – Eragon-elda?" I find myself interrupting. "There's one more thing." I dart to Obsidian and grab Rimume's saddlebags. "Lanadra told us to give you these as – as soon as we got here."

Eragon turns and gently takes the saddlebags. Slowly he turns and tells Blodhgarm to make the meeting an hour from now instead. He looks back at me, then to Silba, Caesar, and Obsidian. "Come with me," he says. "You are about to see and learn things that we only usually teach in a pair's fiftieth year of Riding, but which I think you have the right to learn of." He climbs onto Saphira, and Calypso and I follow suit with our dragons.

_Oh, little one, it never ends. You shouldn't have expected it to,_ Saphira says, not bothering to block her thoughts.

_But what will it cost us this time?_ Eragon asks. Saphira doesn't answer, but leaves the house and starts flying down the mountainside, leaving me to wonder the same thing.

* * *

**Skaterofthebooks Note:**

So that was chapter fifteen, hope you enjoyed! Please tell us what you think, for you see this little button, below this text that says "Review" on it? Well, it's hungry, and the only way that it can be fed is through you clicking on it. So it would make the button very happy if you left a review!


	16. Chapter 16

**Author Note:**

Hello, people! Another chapter! Yay! Thanks to live-love-learn-laugh, AwesomeDragonGirl, Sparxius, and Revan Remasked for reviewing chapter fifteen! This chapter is mostly a description of the islands, but I stuck some interesting tidbits in, and it's nearly a thousand words! Gasp! A new record! So enjoy, review, and tell people! :-) ~Luna

Hey look! Two updates in two days! Wow! Well anyways, this chapter is another great one, I personally love the beginning of it. ~Skaterofthebooks

* * *

Chapter 16 – Obsidian

It seems that Rimume-ebrithil isn't quite as disciplined as we thought.

First, she is still alive, which, according to Caesar-the-partner-of-my-heart's shocked exclamation after Eragon-elda explained eldunarí, breaks natural laws (Glaedr-elda was rather quick to beg otherwise, scaring Caesar out of his wits). Secondly, dragons under Eragon-elda are apparently not supposed to use their eldunarí until at least their two hundredth year of Riding, making Rimume sixty-five years early.

Every eldunarí that the Riders have collected is stored in a huge-dim-cave-system under the mountain Eragon-elda's and Saphira-elda's house is on. The only light comes from the glowing eldunarí themselves, as well as torches set in the stone under each heart-of-hearts. The only one that doesn't glow is Rimume-ebrithil's. When Eragon-elda took it out of the gold saddlebags, the silver heart glimmered softly, but then dimmed again and was barely visible in the black cavern. Eragon-elda shook his head sadly and then placed it back within the saddlebags. Now he motions to the eldunarí in the cave.

"These," he says, "hold the souls of hundreds of the Old Dragons, and many of the New Order. I suppose that now that you know about them, you can come and talk to them anytime. Rimume will join them when the Old Legionnaires deem her ready. Come on, now, I have things to attend to, and your tour guides are ready."

Outside the eldunarí-cave and past the tree where a horned-Urgal-Rider-guard watches sits Ren, stroking purple-Quake's leg. I notice now that she is missing about an eighth of her right wing at the end. I point this out to Caesar.

_That's odd,_ he says. _I wonder what happened to her._

_Now probably isn't the time to ask,_ I answer. Just then, Ren notices us and smiles broadly.

"Caesar! Obsidian! You finally made it! And Calypso and Silba, there you are! You scared us all, taking so long!" He sobered. "I heard about Lanadra and Rimume. I'm so sorry about them. Is it true…" he drops to a whisper. "Is it true that there is a Shade Rider pair?"

Calypso nods. "Actually, two pairs. They gave us quite a fight, but we'll tell you about that later."  
_Shall we be going? I need to eat soon, _Silba interjects. Ren smiles in answer and climbs onto Quake. She takes off unsteadily.

_The lake you passed north of here is Arget Lake,_ Quake says. _Near it is a village for those who aren't Riders,__mostly the offspring of Riders or those of an adventurous sort who came here for the journey. They help us mine and farm. Next to the village is the Hall of the Gilded Lily. Special occasions are sometimes celebrated there, but usually there are only meetings. Here, let's go to the sparring field._

To get there, I pass a jutting-rock-point-cliff on the mountain. _Eragon uses that whenever he has to make an announcement to all of the Rider pairs at once,_ she explains. _Behind it is the archery range._

The sparring field is a sight to behold. Set on the edge of the island, most of it is flat-dry-land, though there is a forested part and a little-blue-water-lake that Quake informs me is called Istalrí Pond. Rocks dot a corner. An armory, tiny in comparison with Eragon-elda's house, sits on the edge of the field near the beach. Beyond the sparring field are the Legion buildings, where each of the six Legions – Egg, Young, Guard, Source, Old, and Search – are headquartered.

The second major island is, as far as Ren and Quake know, only used for farming, hunting, and mining.

The third island is, perhaps, the busiest. There is a blacksmith's smithy, an herb store, an infirmary, a tailor's shop, a dining hall and kitchens, a huge-tall-gray-library, a tanner's store, and another hall – the Hall of the Niernen – hich Ren says is used mostly for socializing in. There are about a hundred large houses – human wood-stone-thatch houses, elf tree-houses, Urgal skin-houses, and a tiny mountain, only about twice the size of the library, with dwarf room-caves. Forests stocked for hunting cover a third of the island.

"On every island there's a boathouse," Ren adds. "On this island, it's next to the dining hall. Anyway, two Rider pairs live in most houses. Mine is on the north side. I share with Pyxila and Firaks. I believe there's an open house next to ours, if you want it."

"Sure!" Calypso says before Caesar can decline. He opens his mouth to protest, but I shush him.

Silba, Quake, and I drop our Riders off at the dining hall for lunch and then go and hunt in the forest. A deer and two rabbits later, I am full. I pick up Caesar.

The vacant house has three rooms. There are two writing desks at one end of the first room, separated by a screen, and a table with four chairs at the other end. The second room is a washroom. The third room has two small beds, two closets with racks for saddles and swords, and two shallow indentations for Silba and me to sleep in. The sets are also separated with screens. I can comfortably go through the entire house.

~/\~

As Caesar unpacks, I think about everything that has happened. And I think that the Land of Dragons may be one of the most peaceful places there is. But there are still those Shade Riders who killed Lanadra and Rimume and their Shade dragons whose claws burned where they scratched. If those evil things killed Lanadra and Rimume, if they caused that much concern to Eragon-elda and Saphira-elda, what was safe?

My reckless-mind-part formulates a plan. But it can't work, the logical-mind-part reminds me. Silba and I are not big enough, our supplies not good enough. We would be foolish to try.

For now, anyway.

* * *

**Skaterofthebooks Note:** Hello, so... I think you all know what I am going to say, and this story has SO many followers and vewiers, we want to know what you guys think! So let us know by pressing this little blue button underneath this text, it says Review and it wants you to click on it! So comply to our wishes and click away! Guest reviews are also appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

Now, before we start with the Author Note, I would just like to let you all know that I (skaterofthebooks) have now become DarkDramaLady, so yeah... on with the Author Note's!

**Author Note: **Hello to all of you people! I forgot to say in the last couple chapters that I own a rather small part of this story. The rest is owned by CP & his publisher. Anyway, thanks to Revan Remasked, AwesomeDragonGirl, Sparxius, Leader of Sky Clan, and The One Who Has No Names for reviewing the last chapter! I NOW HAVE OVER FIFTY REVIEWS (insert clapping and cheering here!)! Let's get it to a hundred! Enjoy, review, tell your friends! ~Luna

Yeah, I don't really have anything else to say, other than that I am sincerely sorry, I actually got this chapter late on the fifth of August, and I was going to post it yesterday, but I wasn't able to/lazy. But here it is today! So enjoy! ~DarkDramaLady (once skaterofthebooks)

* * *

Chapter 17 – Calypso

I love our house. It's twice as comfortable as the orphanage, at least as far as I know. I didn't use the bed last night, but instead slept under Silba's wing. When I got up, I found a tray of fruit, biscuits, and cheese waiting on the table with a note and two wooden disks.

_Calypso and Silba, Caesar and Obsidian-  
Your schedule for this week is next to this note. I recommend that you visit the library or practice in the sparring field during free time, but you can decide. These disks will vibrate every hour to help you keep track of time and will wake you two hours before your first duties or lessons. Enjoy!  
Eragon_

On cue, the disks start vibrating and releasing a shrill note for about ten seconds before suddenly stopping. I go back into the bedroom to wake Silba, Caesar, and Obsidian (having to spend nearly five minutes on Caesar). After half-dragging Caesar to the table for the note and breakfast, I read my schedule. The first class of my day is also the longest – three hours of sparring with Silveria, the Guard Legion elf who had brought us to Eragon. The next hour is a free period for lunch and studying. After that, I have an hour each of history, archery, flight, and languages. Silba only shares the last hour of sparring and my flight class with me today, which saddens me, because I want her there for support for all of sparring. But I suppose I have it better than Caesar, who is complaining about three hours of magic without Obsidian. That would make anyone tired.

Surprisingly, I am Silveria's only student. She begins by teaching me something called the Rimgar, a series of exercises for flexibility and strength. By the end, I am sweating, but not very sore.

"Where is your sword?" she asks me.

"One of the Shade Riders made it shatter with magic," I answer, and she shakes her head and strides toward the armory at the edge of the sparring field. I have to jog to keep up. Inside the armory is the largest collection of weaponry I've ever seen. The walls, twenty feet high, are lined with a gargantuan assortment of swords, spears, knives, maces, bows, arrows, quivers, war hammers, shields, and some I can't identify. One wall has glass cases holding tiny vials of bubbling potions as well as a single sword that looks almost exactly like Lanadra's except its color – an evil-looking bleached white. A locked iron chest sits ominously in the corner. The middle of the room has four ballistae and several tables.

Silveria picks a sword randomly and hands it to me. The hilt is far too large for me, and she knows right away. She sets it back on the rack and gives me another, but the balance on this one is wrong. I shake my head. "I wonder…" she mutters, and pulls a library ladder out of the shadows. She climbs to the very top, yanking a sword off its rack. This one fits me much better. The blade is thinner, the hilt the right size. I nod, and she smiles. We go back to the field, where she instructs me on how to block the edge of my sword. She unsheathes her sword, hot pink like Kaito's scales, and does the same.

I try to work out a strategy, but she moves quickly, too quickly for me to analyze effectively. So I slash randomly, occasionally using a move I learned from Lanadra. Within a minute and a half, I'm covered in bruises. Silveria only got hit once by random chance. We disengage. I can tell by the look on her face that Silveria is disappointed with me. She shakes it off, though, and looks more determined than ever.

"Come on, Calypso, you can do it. Here, do what I do…"

After the session, which included some fighting on dragonback, my skills have little improved other than gaining a good sword. Silba flies me to the infirmary, where my many bumps and bruises are mended easily by the Rider on duty, a younger dwarf man. I notice Caesar in one of the beds. The dwarf follows my gaze and starts to explain before I can register much. "He fainted from using too much energy on a spell," the dwarf says with an obvious accent. "He was trying to set a log on fire, but it went wrong. He put two buildings in flame. It is lucky he ended the spell before fainting; else we would have had much more trouble putting the fire out. He was burned slightly too, but that was easily fixed."

For some reason I don't think that it was entirely a lack of energy that made Caesar pass out.

* * *

**Author Note: **And Calypso gets a sword that works for her! Well, sort of. Let's hope she learns how to use it soon. Did you like the armory? Review and tell me! ~Luna

Also, some promoting, on my account I have another Inheritance cycle story, another one that is not mine, it is The One Who Has No Names' story, and you should all check it out. I will be putting the next chapter up for that soon as well. So yeah! Review this story, then go check out Phantoms from the Shadows! ~DarkDramLady


	18. Chapter 18

**Author Note: **THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER SO FAR, SO READ, AND I'LL TALK AT THE BOTTOM. ~Luna

I'll do the same! Just one quick sincire apology for the delay, I just have been so busy the past few days, I mean to get this up FOUR days ago, but I just wasn't able to, this is the first time I have been on a computer since when I posted the last chapter. So I'm sorry, but anyways, GO READ! ~DarkDramaLady

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Chapter 18 – Caesar

_ Flame. Fire. Evil, murderous, stupid fire. Fire killed my parents, hurt Obsidian. I've started too many fires. I can never control the flames… where are they now, my parents? I can hardly remember their names. You would think I would remember, since I killed them._

I wake up from my terrible dreams during the free lunch period, or so I assume, because Calypso is watching me anxiously. For the first second I'm aware of, anyway. Then my waking registers in her. Relief floods her face, and she jumps up and hugs me. Tightly.

"Calypso – I can't – breathe," I choke out, and she releases me and backs away quickly, wide-eyed.

"S-sorry! I didn't m-mean to! You j-just k-keep hurting yourself," she's actually crying now, "and you s-scare me so m-much!"

"Calm down, Calypso. It's okay. I'm sorry. And I owe you an explanation…" Just then, the little wooden disk in my pocket vibrates. I shake my head. "I guess that's for later, then. I should get to archery class…"

"NO!" Calypso yells. "If you pass out from magic, you do NOT get up and do archery right away! STAY HERE!"

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll stay here. Fine. But really, I'll be okay. Go to history class. I'm fine. Hey, you know what I just realized? Our birthdays are next week!"

For a moment her prior horrors are still obvious, but after about three seconds, she starts laughing. Really hard. She has to sit down on the next bed, she's laughing so hard. "All of THIS," she gasps, gesturing at the general world around us, "and you remember our birthdays? Our teachers are dead, we're Riders, two Shades with Shade Dragons are on the loose, we're IMMORTAL for goodness' sake, and you remember that our birthdays are NEXT WEEK? Only you, Caesar, only you." She laughs more for a while and then walks off, giggling and muttering to herself, and doesn't look back.

I start walking to the house after another hour and a huge meal, skipping out on the rest of my classes. They're not that interesting anyway. Archery, languages, history. Then I'm supposed to have kitchen duty, but I don't think I'll show up.

Obsidian had known when I passed out, but he was in the middle of aerial combat practice, and Blodhgarm (who is my magic teacher) told him what happened, so he isn't coming. Which means I'm stuck on this island.

When I reach the house, I see that a piece of paper is tacked to the door. Something is written on it in a script that I vaguely remember learning when I was six. Still, it takes me five minutes to decipher:

_You are invited to a party and meeting tonight in the Hall of the Gilded Lily._

Well, then. A party. In the middle of all this madness. But I suppose I'll go for the meeting._Hey, Obsidian?_

_Yes? _He's flying to the mines to help move the larger stones.

_There's some party thing tonight, in the Hall of the Gilded Lily._

_Interesting timing for a celebration, but okay. I'll tell Silba since she's right here, but you'll have to find Calypso._

Calypso won't be hard to find. I go to the end of the library where they hold language classes and wait outside. Eventually she walks up, chatting with Ren. I wave her over.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. "History is held at the other end of the library."

"I know, but I wanted to tell you that there's some party thing tonight."

"Very well."

"Hey, Calypso?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Being an idiot."

"Can't argue with that." She pauses. "I'm sorry too."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Being an idiot."

I smile. "Can't argue with that."

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**Chapter 18 bottom AN: **Hello, people! The truth comes out! Well, sort of! But I love writing in Caesar's POV. Well, regardless, thanks to our dear reviewers, live-love-learn-laugh, AwesomeDragonGirl, Revan Remasked, and Leader of Sky Clan for being awesome. I owe you people Pygmy Puffs. :-) Anyway, I still don't own much, et cetera. Also, on a completely unrelated note, check out the HP&PJ crossover story "Nevermore" written by my best friend smilelyfaces0_o (yes, that's how she spells it) and betaed by our own dear DarkDramaLady (who used to be SkateroftheBooks)! But as for my story, I hope you enjoyed and will now review and tell your friends! ~Luna

Ah yes, the story Nevermore, warning, because it is a crossover, it is not cannon, I had issues with that. But anyways, you all should go check it out. It is very good, and so far pretty Drastoria centered.

Anyway, back to this story, I love the siblingness/friendship that Calypso and Caesar show at the bottom of this chapter. (I say friendship because my sister and I never act like that). And like Luna said at the top, this is an amazing chapter, and because of that you should all review and let us know how much YOU loved it. ~DarkDramaLady


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: **Good day, people! I'm sorry that I haven't posted in forever, but things have been nuts. Per usual. Anyway, I only own a small part of this, et cetera. Thanks to Revan Remasked, AwesomeDragonGirl, Leader of Sky Clan, and adamln for reviewing! You'd all get Pygmy Puffs, however my supplier just had to shut down due to low demand for magical creatures. Regardless, you are all awesome! This chapter is sort of short, I know, but I tried to make it funny. Sorry, teenage male readers. :-) Well, I'll stop talking now if you just read, review, and tell your friends! ~ Luna

I also need to give you guys an apology, I've had this chapter for about six days now, but I just kept on forgetting to post it. Sorry! ~DarkDramaLady

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**Previously on Vrangr... **

Caesar passed out after doing a fire spell. We learn why Caesar is afraid of fire. (He started one and it killed his parents). Caesar and Calypso make up, they are friends again. They are going to a party sort of thing.

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**Chapter 19:**

Silba POV

The Hall of the Gilded Lily is huge. It is three hundred feet tall and takes up three times the land as Eragon's house. It seems that all of the Rider-pairs, as well as some of the not-Riders from the not-Rider-village, are here. Calypso-the-partner-of-my-heart is wearing the first dress she picked out from Farthen Dur. This time, Caesar managed to at least say she looked good.  
The party is interesting, though brief, lasting only about an hour. An elder dragon tells me that a major Urgal goddess's celebration coincided this year with a dwarfish god's, so a small generic party was thrown so people could celebrate what they wanted to and not feel left out or offended.

Down below me, a point-ear-elf sings in the ancient language on a small stage. Some Riders eat at small-round-tables and some dance in front of the elf-singer. Several older dragons, including Saphira, drink something out of barrels in a corner. I see Eragon laughing with a dwarf near the wall. Calypso eats and talks with Pyxila, and Caesar has shed his leather jacket and is just sitting in a corner with Obsidian.

The point-ear-elf-singer finishes her song and everyone applauds. She curtsies and steps down from the stage as Eragon gets on it. He shouts to the crowd: "Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to this celebration. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves, but now we must get down to business." He pauses. "Our last two rider-dragon pairs came to the land of dragons nearly unaided, for their Egg Legionnaires, Lanadra Oathcatcher and Rimume Argetskular, have been killed."

A murmur arises from the throngs below. Several dragons roar sadly. I can tell Calypso is tearing up again. "How, Eragon-elda?" a dwarf called.

"The two lost eggs have found Riders – an elven sorceress and a human sorcerer. In one summoning, the spirits became too much for the sorcerers, and they became Shades. The spirits went through the link between Rider and dragon, and the dragons too became Shades. They went on to attack Lanadra, Rimume, and their charges six days out of Farthen Dur. Lanadra ordered the younglings to flee and then she and Rimume sacrificed themselves to give them time to get here. All of their belongings were lost."

Lamentations fill the air, for most of the pairs knew Lanadra and Rimume. For many Riders, I know, her Egg Legion visits were their first contact with the Riders. She had carried many of the dragons as eggs.

"So what now, Eragon-elda? Are we just going to let those fools go? Or are we going to seek them out and kill them? We are the Riders! We can crush them!" an Urgal calls out.

Eragon shakes his head. "We must learn more first. Only four have ever killed Shades and escaped with their lives, and those Shades weren't connected with dragons. I'll do my best to learn about them, and then we will plan an attack. Until then, it's too dangerous."

_I'm glad he isn't identifying us,_ Calypso says. _I really am happy we don't have to deal with questions from the other Riders._

_ What he says about attacking the Shades makes sense, but I still wish we could do something, _Obsidian replies.

_Don't we all?_

__-~OoOoO~-

It is the morning after the party, and Calypso-the-partner-of-my heart rises again before the noisy-wooden-disk sounds. I snap open an eye upon hearing her wake.

_Good morning, Calypso. Someone came earlier to leave a note._

_ Okay._ She goes to the table and reads it. _It's from Eragon. He says he wishes to discuss some matters with us today at – oh my gosh, it's in half an hour, we'll be late! _"CAESAR!"

"What?" he mumbles sleepily from the other room.

"Wake up already! We're meeting Eragon in an hour! OBSIDIAN, get your Rider to GET UP!"

_If you haven't noticed, I've been awake as long as Silba has and I've been trying to get him out of bed for an hour, _he snorts._ Humans are odd; as Saphira-elda said, your hatchlings hibernate like cave bears._

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**_Author Note: _**_So! Tell us what you think! Reviews shall receive Honeydukes chocolate. Whovians, what did you think of Asylum of the Daleks? Potterheads, how was the Hogwarts Express, are you ready for the first day of term? ~DarkDramaLady_


	20. Chapter 20

**Luna Note: **Hello, readers! I'm really really really sorry for the epically long hiatus. But before I go rambling on about anything, go ahead and read.

**DarkDramaLady Note: **I follow those words, but before you read, here is a little refresher:

* * *

**Previously on Vrangr *Dramatic music plays in the distant background***

_Calypso and Caesar, two orphaned twins, become Riders of Silba and Obsidian under supervision of Lanadra and journey to Farthen Dur, where they meet two other new Riders, and then begin on the way to the Land of Dragons. They are unexpectedly attacked by two Shade Rider-dragon pairs, and while Calypso, Silba, Caesar, and Obsidian get away, Lanadra and Rimume's body perish, Rimume's Eldunari having been carried on by Caesar. With a little help from Murtagh and Thorn, they manage to make it to the Land of Dragons, where they continue training. In the last chapter, the two pairs have been called to meet with Eragon about something._

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Chapter 20 – Caesar

"That's all for now. Thank you for getting up early to come and meet with me. Silveria and Kaito will be waiting in the sparring field. I will see you in a week, then, and good luck." Eragon-elda dismisses us with a wave and a smile.

It seems that the Presentation wasn't the only test that we would go through. There is another Test as well, dealing with four major physical skills – magic, swordfighting, aerial combat, and overall flight. Usually training for this is done with the Egg Legionnaire, but Silveria and Kaito have volunteered to assist us due to the deaths of Lanadra and Rimume. The Test will be done on the day of our fourteenth birthdays. Until then, all classes will be private prep for the test.

The first class for Calypso and me is swordfighting. Calypso got a new sword yesterday, and it's my turn today. Silveria leads us to the armory at the edge of the sparring field. It's enormous, with every weapon I can imagine in it. Most of one wall is dedicated to swords of every size and shape: thin rapiers, curved katanas, wide broadswords, almost dagger-like shortswords, and more. There is a sword hung on one wall that looks like Lanadra's. I reach out to pick it up, but Silveria snatches my hand away.

"Never touch that, Caesar, if you want to live."

"Okay… why not?" I ask.

Silveria looks at me with a pained expression. "Some magic is just too powerful for us to handle."

Shrugging the foreboding sentence off, I go to the main sword wall and pick a random sword. It's too long. Next I grasp a thicker, shorter sword, but the balance is still too far off. I return it carefully to its rack and pick another. An hour later, I've finished half of the wall. Another hour after, the rest of the swords have been picked through, to Silveria's frustration.

"Perhaps a different type of weapon, then," she says while walking over to another wall, this one filled with war hammers, maces, and other less conventional weapons. "It has happened. Why, even Thundul-vodhr carried a staff for years before he got a sword, and even now he prefers a good strong staff to his falchion. Here, try this."

"No," Calypso, who had so far said nothing, interrupts. "Caesar's talent is with a sword. We used to pretend we were fighting each other when we weren't working in the store, and whenever the stick he used represented a sword, he did very well. With other weapons, not so much."

Silveria paused and studied me for a second, then slowly nods. "There's one more sword you could try for now," she says slowly. She goes to a dark iron chest in the corner and whispers a spell to the lock. The lid flies open and Silveria pulls out a thin, bright, almost transparent sword. "It used to have a name, but not anymore," she says as she cautiously hands the sword to me. "Its actual name died with the legendary witch Angela. I think Eragon knows it, but he won't say. Now, be careful with that, Caesar. It can cut through everything but its own scabbard. No one with less than twenty-seven years of Riding is supposed to be allowed to handle it."

The sword, whatever its name, is beautiful and perfectly balanced. It feels like an extension of my arm. I take a swing at nothing in particular. Silveria and Calypso both have to leap back to avoid the tip. Silveria shakes her head. "Perhaps you should just continue to use your training sword for now," she says. I don't have much choice in the matter. Still, I swing the sword once more just for the sake of it, accidently slicing through the stone wall.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," I stutter. Silveria just chuckles amusedly and motions for me to sheath the sword and give it to her, which I do. We head back to the sparring field. Lanadra says that I am to fight against Calypso now. At this announcement, she quickly raises her hand.

"Can we use magic?"

"No, I think not. Good Riders rely on both magic and the sword when they must fight. You need to develop strength in both. Now begin!" We attempt to do as she says, but Silveria stops us as soon as we form up to begin. "No, not like that, Calypso," Silveria chastises, adjusting Calypso's grip and stance. "Now, continue."

Silveria interrupts us at least once every couple minutes for the rest of the session, mostly correcting Calypso, who, by the end, is near tears. She really is oversensitive, but Silveria's still pushing it too far. Still, I'm hardly thankful when Pyxila comes in and saves us.

"Caesar! Calypso! What're you guys doing?" she calls from her vantage point on top of Firaks.

"Training, if you haven't noticed," I grumble, and though Pyxila obviously couldn't hear, Calypso glares at me as if I'd just insulted Eragon.

She turns and smiles up at Pyxila. "We were just finishing a training session with Silveria. Why? What's up?"

Firaks lands and Pyxila slides off, mindful that her sword, oddly unsheathed, doesn't hurt her dragon. "Ren and I have our Test today," she explains, "and I was hoping to get some practice in beforehand. Caesar, are you up for it?"

I glance around, but Silveria has already vanished. Oh, that's great. "I suppose I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope."

"Just don't kill each other, okay?" Calypso sighs before backing up to give us room. Obsidian, in the back of my mind, seems amused.

_What? _I snap at him.

_Oh, nothing. Just something Firaks said._

_ Firaks? What is it? _I ask the orange dragon, more curious than annoyed.

_Caesar, I'd recommend focusing on my dear Rider instead of on me. Just don't focus too much._

_ What?_ I ask, but he has already broken the connection. So I turn back to Pyxila. "Would you-" I begin, intending to get Firaks's thoughts out of her instead, but she lunges at me instead of letting me finish, and so the fight begins.

Detachedly I note that I never blocked the edge of my sword, but the fight never really turns either way enough that one of us can draw blood. We fight for what I think was about half an hour, and then she, Firaks, Ren, and Quake, the latter two having arrived soon after we began, are summoned away to get ready for the formal Test.

"At the very least, you respect her, don't you?" Calypso says after they leave. I do not answer her.

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**Luna Note: Again, people, I'm really sorry this took so long. A good friend of mine introduced me to an anime called Hetalia and I was instantly hooked. I'm working on two or three Hetalia stories (not online yet) as well as Vrangr right now, but I promise I shall follow through on this story. Anyway, this chapter was over 1,100 words! I'm rather proud of its length, though I'm sorry it was more of the armory. Secondly, thank you as always to reviewers live-love-learn-laugh, AwesomeDragonGirl, PullPush, Revan Remasked, Melty-chan 93, sniperpal, and Sparxius. If it weren't for you all I might have abandoned this. Finally, I need some help with a decision: what should Ren's sword be named? I've gone through the entire list of Elvish words, and nothing fits. So it's your turn to give input. Enjoy that! Review and tell your friends! Oh, wait, one last thing: check out my oneshot, Eternity, also on DarkDramaLady's account (or should be soon). I wrote it for a friend with relationship trouble, so it's so fluffy it could be a pillow, but it's technically in pre-war Alagaesia, so there you go. Thanks! Until we meet again!**

**DarkDramaLady Note: Yes, a big big thank you to all the reviewers, especially Sparxius. I shall be getting Eternity up later today, it's truly adorable and you should all read it. Review this chapter tell us what you think. I don't know when the next chapter shall be up soon. That's up to Luna to decide. so ta ta for now!**


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